Ali Twelvetrees

James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫

Zihan Chen, Yongping Chai, Guangshuo Ou & Hui Wang target mutant KIF1A motor function with allele-specific intragenic suppressors & show that even modest reactivation can restore neuronal transport, offering a potential framework for therapies in KAND.

journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data Applications for European research grants increased in 2025. Scientists say they’re feeling the competition.

Success rates for Europe’s leading research grants are declining as a surge in applications far outweighs the funds available

go.nature.com/479Sni6

Do all #NTFs regulate #MotorNeuron axonal transport in vivo?

Our new preprint shows they do not.

#BDNF enhances (shorturl.at/siwFi), #CNTF slows, and #HGF, #NRTN & #proBDNF show no effect.

#AxonalTransport regulation is selective, not universal.

@jamessleigh.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality.

My HPLC was definitely overlooked

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation My newly launched report on how we can safeguard the independence of our important scientific and evidence-generating institutions - not least so they can hold government to account

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

Need a reason to join next year's #NeuroBioUK? Here it is :)
Thanks Sally for the amazing review
focalplane.biologists.com/2025/10/06/n...

A golden retriever uses a full body hug to block access to a laptop

A grey cat sitting angrily on top of a laptop.

Doggo was making her feelings known about Sunday morning grant writing… I put the laptop down to wrestle her off and the cat has now taken up the defence. Sigh.

We're kicking off the third #NeuroBioUK - an exciting day full of neuronal cell biology ahead!
Massive thank for @bscb-official.bsky.social support and a shout out to our industry sponsors!

Who's visiting #NeuroBioUk25 today?!?

Go check out our stand and say hi to your account manager &
discover the technologies you require for your research discoveries!

Plus want to win a @giantmicrobes.bsky.social ?
Which one would you choose

#neuroscience #STEMreasearch #neuroyork #neurobiouk

The poster hall at the National STEM learning centre with astronauts suspended from the ceiling.

Poster boards are ready and waiting for #NeuroBioUK - let’s get this science party started 🥳

NeuroBioUK Dear Colleagues,

I'm excited to present our work on glia-to-interneuron conversion for the treatment of MTLE at the NeuroBioUK meeting next month in York! It looks like a great, affordable one-day meeting with plenty of talks from EC researchers. Looking forward!
neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk

NeuroBioUK - Programme 9 AM Arrival, registration & coffee Session 1: Organelle and synaptic signalling Session Chair: 9:45 AM Introduction 9:50 AM Sally Horton, The Francis Crick Institute, "CDKL5 in synaptic formation,...

The programme is up for #NeuroBioUK25 - take a look! And don’t forget to register by the 3rd of September…. neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/programme

Thanks to everyone who submitted abstracts so far - it's going to be a great meeting!
Don't forget to register by Sept 3rd to present a poster or simply catch some fantastic neurobiology. Hot topics are currently single molecule approaches, synaptic signalling and molecular mechanisms of disease 🔬

and a canele

All the opto-vimentin plasmids are now available on Addgene: www.addgene.org/Anna_Akhmano...

UKRI award rate halves in seven years as grant applications double - Research Professional News Trends across research councils prompt warning that system is “overstretched or broken”

Feels about right

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

In contrast to tonight's sky I don't want to be dramatic, but there's only two more days left to submit an abstract to be considered for a talk at #NeuroBioUK
neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/registration

I’m thinking today about all the women doing DEI work in universities, and how all of our canceled grants and shuttered initiatives means that not only are we losing the time we’ve already put in, we’re now even more behind our male peers who stayed focused on their research.

Attention conference hosts

Two fantastic talks from the #nucleicAcids world at today's @biochemsoc.bsky.social SM@SH seminar! Great to welcome Askash Basu from Durham to hear about bendability in #DNA sequences and beautiful cryoEM from Anamika Kumari Lahiri Lab in the ECR talk slot! 🧬🧬🧬👏@sheffielduni.bsky.social

🚨The deadline for a talk submission is approaching soon - don't miss your spot!! We can't wait to see you in York 😊
For details check out our website:
neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/registration

Cooling off after a hot day, Sheffield style. Here’s to the weekend! Don’t forget to get those abstracts in for #neurobiouk25 :)

neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/registration

Neurobiologists 🧠!! If you want to give a talk at NeurobioUK this year, the deadline is the 1st August. Don't miss your chance to be part of an absolutely awesome meeting.

Really, really amazing conference. We went last year and the scientific programme and atmosphere were incredible! I 100% recommend attending + submitting an abstract for a talk - spread the word! 🧠

Abstract deadline is fast approaching - 1st of August if you want to be considered for a talk. ECRs don’t miss your chance!

As always, massive thanks to @biochemsoc.bsky.social for their support :)

Professor Anne Straube presenting her team’s work on the Hook/KIF/dynein complex.

Dylan Lewis presenting his PhD work on using AFM to dissect photosynthesis.

Friday gave us a double treat at our Single Molecules seminars. Fab talks from @annestraube.bsky.social and ECR speaker Dylan. Between them they covered AFM, optical trapping and TIRF assays - serving fascinating insights into photosynthesis and microtubule transport. Single molecules FTW!

Very excited to share our latest preprint! We looked at loss and gain of function, innervation, reinnervation, and in vivo axonal transport in a FUS-ALS mouse model!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@uclqsion.bsky.social @beccasimkin.bsky.social @andrewtosolini.bsky.social @frattalab.bsky.social

Beyond that though, I have been doing this sci comm stuff for a long time, and I have NEVER before known a time when I've had to grapple with so many nonsensical claims from tech leaders. There's just a constant stream, which most of the media gobbles up. I'm frankly really tired of it. 9/9